Apparatus for removing articles from cases



March 17, 1953 K. HOLSTEBRO El-AL 2,631,746

APPARATUS FOR REMOVING ARTICLES FROM CASES Filed May 25, 1950 8Sheets-Sheet 1 A TTORNEYS March 17, 1953 K. HOLSTEBRO ETAL 2,531,746

APPARATUS FOR REMOVING ARTICLES FROM CASES Filed May 25, 1950 8Sheets-Sheet 2 M223 4/ ll 39 INVENTORS Kaye f/olszebro Edyar AmcZZ ZZM,WWZ; Mfimma A TTORNEYS March 17, 1953 K. HoLs'rEBRb ETAL APPARATUS FORREMOVING ARTICLES FROM CASES Filed May 25, 1950 8 Sheets-Sheet 3 BY faar Af/ddl March 17, 1953 K. HOLSTEBRO YETAL 2,631,746

APPARATUS FOR REMOVING ARTICLES FROM CASES Filed May 25, 1950 8Sheets-Sheet 4 g I N VEN TORS Q lfaye #015165/0 BY Edgar A/m'eZZ ATTORNE Y5 March 17, 1953 K. HOLSTEBRO ETAL APPARATUS FOR REMOVINGARTICLES FROM CASES 8 Sheets- Sheet 5 Filed May 25, 1950 a w m W v efivN Wfr 0 A T .7. M T a A BY zM Mirch 17, 1953 K. HOLSTEBRO ETAL2,631,746:

' APPARATUS FOR REMOVING ARTICLES FROM CASES Filed May 25, 1950 I 8Sheets-Sheet 6 IN VEN TOR-5 Kaye Holstebm [dye r Ardel Z ATTORNEYS March17, 1953 K. HOLSTEBRO ETAL" 2,631,745

APPARATUS FOR REMOVING ARTICLES FROM CASES 8 SheetST-Sheet 7 Filed May25. 1950 v A INVENTIORS ATTORNEYS March 17, 1953 K. HOLSITEBRO ETAL2,631,746,

APPARATUS FOR REMOVING ARTICLES FROM CASES-H, Filed ma 25, 1950 '8 shets-sheet a,

I V20 99 as Q/ #2 95 1 #4 ATTO RN EYS Patented Mar. 17, 1953 UNITEDSTATES PATENT OFICE APPARATUS FOR REMOVING ARTICLES FROM CASESApplication May 25, 1950, Serial No. 169,816

8 Claims. 1

This invention relates to unloading apparatus, that is, to apparatus forremoving articles from shipping, or other cases or trays, and itspurpose is to provide certain improvements in theconstruction andoperation of such apparatus.

In the food and beverage industries it is custornary for the emptycontainers, such as metal cans, glass jars and the like to be sent tothe food processor or beverage plant in the same shipping cases in whichthe food or beverage product is to be ultimately shipped to thedistributor or consumer. Empty unfilled cans frequently have the bottomsrolled and beaded to the can bodies, While the tops of the bodies areopen and flared to receive the lids. Such flared portion is larger indiameter than the bead on the bottom of the can, and its edge is sharpand where the shipping case contains two tiers or layers of such emptycans, these sharp, flared edges, particularly of the lower tier, have atendency to cut into or dent the inner walls of the shipping case. Thiscondition is especially troublesome in connection with the usual typesof shipping cases made of corrugated board, fiber board, and the like.

In removing the cans from the shipping cases by means of mechanicalgrippers that positively grip the complete lower the of cans and removeit as a unit, the cutting or denting of the case walls by the flaredtops of the cans tends to cause the case to stick to or hang on the tierof cans as it is lifted out and make separation of the case and cansdiflicult.

Accordingly, one object of the present invention is to provide anunloading apparatus which is constructed and arranged especially forremoving empty containers, whether of metal or of glass, or othermaterial, from shipping cases.

Another object of the invention is to provide an unloading apparatus inwhich a tier of cans having flared tops with sharp edges can be asreadily removed from the case as though these flared edges were notpresent.

Another object of the invention is to provide an unloading apparatus forremoving articles from cases which can be readily set up to operate uponarticles of various kinds, whether empty containers or filled containersand whether made of metal, glass or other material, thus providing anapparatus which is extremely flexible as to its use.

Another object of the invention is to provide an unloading apparatuswhich is not expensive in first cost, and in which the cost of servicinis unusually low. v 7

A further object of the invention is 2 a lifting head mechanism for suchunloading apparatus having an unusually quick action both in grippingand in releasing the articles, and in which the rate of wear is low andin which no loose joints can develop of a nature to interfere with theeffectiveness of article support.

The invention will be disclosed in connection with an unloadingapparatus which is intended to remove from shipping cases empty sheetmetal cans having flared upper edges which tend to engage and adhere tothe walls of the case whenever these edges are positioned below the topof the case. Such an'apparatus is shown by way of example in theaccompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a sectional plan View taken on line l-I of Fig. 2 of anapparatus which has been devised to simultaneously remove both the upperand lower tiers of cans from a case containing two tiers;

Fig. 2 is a vertical, longitudinal section taken on line 22 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse section taken on broken line 3-3 of Fig.2 showing the mechanism for unloading the second or bottom tier ofcontainers;

Fig. 4 is a View similar to Fig. 3 with certain parts shown in diiferentpositions;

Fig. 5 is a similar view showing such parts in still other positions;

Fig. 6 is a projectional view of the unloading mechanism for removingthe lower tier of cans, conditions being the same as in Fig. 4;

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary vertical section of a shipping case showing howthe flared upper edge of a metal container tends to wear itself into thewall of the case;

Fig. 8 is a view similar to Fig. 7 showing the freeing of the wall fromthe container by the apparatus of the invention;

Fig. 9 is a view partly in plan and partly in horizontal section of acase with the parts as shown in Figs. 4 and 6;

Fig. 10 is a vertical section of a detail of the lifting head;

Fig. 11 is an air piping diagram;

Fig. 12 is a side elevation of a modified form of lifting head forlifting externally gripped articles such as Coca Cola bottles;

Fig. 13 is a vertical transverse section taken on line l3l3 of Fig. 12;

Fig. 14 is a plan view of the lifting head shown in Fi 12;

to provide Fig. 15 is an enlarged vertical section showin 3 details of agripping unit for a single row of bottles;

Fig. 16 is a partial vertical section taken on line I6-Ifi of Fig. 15;

Fig. 1'? is an exploded detail view; and

Fig. 18 is a view similar to Fig. 12 showing another modified form ofgripper head for handling internally gripped jars.

Referring now to the accompanying drawings the machine has the usualframe I which supports the various parts including a table or support 2having a smooth level surface along which the cases are moved by meansof a flight conveyor 3. This conveyor comprises a pair of chains betweenwhich flight bars 4 are mounted at uniform intervals. Conveyor 3 isadvanced intermittently by any convenient form of step-by-step mechanism(not shown).

Thus conveyor 3 advances each shipping case successively to twounloading stations, namely, station A where the upper tier or layer ofempty meta1 cans is removed, and station B where the lower tier is takenout. At unloading station A there is an article off-bearing conveyor 5for the cans from the upper tier, and at station E a similar articleconveyor 6 for the containers of the second tier.

It will be understood that before the cases arrive at unloading stationA the top of each case has been fully opened by unfolding the flapswhich make up the top. The operator folds the inner or end flap beneaththe turned, over top edge of an upright sheet metal plate 7 as shown inFig. 2. The outer or side flap is opened to a position somewhat as shownin Fig. 4, the inside nap being turned to vertical position and heldthere by one of the case guides 1a which serve to guide the cases asthey move along table 2.

At unloading station A there is a lifter head indicated generally byreference numeral 8A to lift the first tier of containers to the levelor conveyor 5, and at station B a lifting head BB to lift the secondtier to the level of conveyor 6.

The general operation of the apparatus as a whole will now be referredto briefly:

A conveyor 3 moves the cases successively to stations A and B, liftinghead 8A descends, grips and lifts out the upper tier of empty cans.Simultaneously lifting head 33 descends and lifts out the lower tier. Assoon as the two tiers are elevated slightly above the tops of therespective cases, two gate members GA and GB (Figs. 1, 2, 3) drop downbehind the preceding tiers of cans which are resting on two movableplatens or trays PA and PB which are overlying the end portions of thetwo conveyors 5 and 6 respectively. Substantially simultaneously withthe dropping of gates GA and GB the two platens together begin to moveinward or to the right in Fig. 3 and stop beneath the respective liftingheads 8A and 8B. The tiers of cans held by these lifting heads areimmediately released onto these platens. Then gates GA and GB rise andthe platens return to their outward positions overlying the twoconveyors 5 and t, carrying the cans upon them.

The description of the detailed construction of the apparatus will nowbe resumed.

Lifting head 8A is operated by means of an air cylinder 9A having apiston rod IDA at the lower end of which is secured the frame plate IIof the lifting head. Similarly lifting head 83 is operated by aircylinder 93 having a piston rod IBB. These two lifting head structuresare alike except for certain parts which are added to lifting head 813to facilitate removal of the lower tier and which 4 will be describedlater on. A description of one lifter head will serve for both.

Mounted on the lifter head frame I I are pairs of fluid pressureactuated gripper fingers construoted and arranged to enter the openmouths of the empty cans constituting a tier in the case, and engage andfrictionally grip these cans so as to support them and lift them out ofthe case. The geometrical arrangement of these fingers depends upon thenumber and arrangement of the cans in the tier. In the present instanceeach tier comprises three rows of four cans each and the grippingdevices are arranged in pairs in two parallel rows. One row i disposedin the vertical plane which is tangent to the center row and one of theoutside rows of cans, while the second row of pairs of grippers is in asimilar plane which is tangent to the cans of the center row and theopposite outside row.

Accordingly two pivot shafts I2 and I3 are mounted in these respectiveplanes on frame plate I I of the gripper head, the opposite ends ofthese shafts projecting beyond each end of this plate (Fig. 2). Beloweach of these shafts are two parallel gripper supporting bars or membersI l and I5. Gripper spring fingers I5 and Il are riveted or otherwisesecured to the respective bars I4 and i5 to form spaced pairs of fingersbelow each of the shafts I2 and I3. Spring fingers it and I1 havesufficient length to reach the lower tier of articles when the lifterhead frame it at unloading station B is lowered to a position just abovethe top of the case, and the lower ends of these fingers are suitablyformed to grip the metal cans. As shown they are provided with resilientpads I3 of rubber or similar material for this purpose.

Gripper supporting bars I4 and I5 are respectively provided with lugs l9 and 20 at their oppo site ends which extend upwardly to pivotallysuspend the respective bars from the extensions of pivot shafts I2 andI3. To actuate bars Id and E5 to close or open the gripping fingers, barIt has an actuating arm 2| which extends upwardly above shaft I 2, andbar I 4 has a similar actuating arm 22, these arms being disposed nearthe opposite ends of bars I5 and I4 respectively. Actuating arms 25 forthe gripper supporting bars I5 are pivotally connected to an operatingbar 23 which in turn is suitably connected to the piston rod 2:2 of anair operated diaphragm or cylinder 25A. The actuating arms 22 for theother pair of gripper supporting bars I4 are similarly connected to anoperating bar 26 which is actuated by a second air diaphragm or cylinder21A mounted on the opposite side of the lifting head frame I i. When airpressure is supplied simultaneously to air cyl inders 25A and 21A thearticle gripper fingers I5 and H are brought together to engage thecans. When this air pressure is released the operating bars 23 and 26are moved in the opposite directions by suitablecompression springs 28Within the respective operating cylinders 25A and NA and the cans arereleased.

The interior construction of these air cylinders is shown in Fig. 10.From this figure it will be seen that the fluid pressure enteringthrough the hose connection operates upon a diaphragm 22 connected topiston rod 24, which is connected to one of the operating bars 23. 7

As will be seen from several of the figures and particularly Fig. '7,the sheet metal containers have their bottoms beaded to the side wallsand the top of this wall is flared as shown at 333 leavmg a sharp edgewhich, during transit of the empty containers in the shipping case cutsinto the inner surface of the side wall forming a shallow depression 3|.All of the containers on the periphery of the bottom tier out suchdepressions in the case walls and when an attempt is made to lift outthe tier, their flared edges will engage these depressions 3!, thusmaking it difl'icult to remove the charge from the case.

In order to overcome this dimculty the lifting head 83 at the left handor second unloadin station is provided with a series of movable fingerssurrounding the container gripping fingers or devices lfi-I'l. Thesecase expanding fingers, one of which is indicated at 32 in Fig. 8, arearranged so as to be forced outwardly after they enter the casealongside of the gripping fingers so as to expand the walls of the caseand free them completely from the cans, moving the depressions 3! awayfrom the sharp flared can edges. The case expanding fingers arepreferably of blade-like form and are pivotally mounted on the frame I Iof lifting head 8B.

The general configuration of the series or group of case expandingfingers depends on the shape of the charge or tier of articles. Theshape of the individual fingers, that is, whether flat or laterallycurved, also depends on the shape of the charge so that for chargeswhich are contained by cases having fiat walls the expanding fingers aresubstantially fiat. In any case however, the lower ends of these fingersare tapered or pointed and are turned or bent inwardly as shown at 33 soas to enter between adjacent cans and provide a sloping or curving outersurface to facilitate the entry of the fingers into the case. Thefingers are of substantial width so as to extend slightly beyond thecenters of adjacent cans in order to force the case wall away from thetangent points of the cans. The expanding fingers at the sides of thecharge are indicated at 32; those at the ends of the case at 34 and 35.Where there is an odd number of rows in the tier or charge, one fingerat each end, such as finger 35, is made about half width and functionsto separated only a single can from the wall instead of two cans.

Case expanding fingers 32 at the sides of the lifting head are fixed toactuating shafts .36 which are pivoted on the lifting head frame, whilethe end fingers 34 and 35 are fixed to similarly pivoted shafts 3?.Booking motion is imparted to these respective shafts by means ofactuating arms 38 and 39 respectively. Fingers 32 are biased outward totheir case expanding position by means of a tension spring 46 which isconnected at its opposite ends to the two actu ating arms 38. The endfingers 34, 35 are biased outward in a similar manner by means of atension spring 4| which interconnects the two actuating arms 39.

In order to hold the side expanding fingers 32 in their contracted orinward positions as shown in Fig. 3 during the downward movement of thelifting head two parallel rails d2 are mounted on a stationary supportat the lower end of air cylinder 9B. Rollers on the upper ends ofactuating arms 38 engage the outer surfaces of rails 42 and thus areheld in outward position against the tension of spring 4!. A similarpair of stationary rails 43 is provided to engage rollers on actuatingarms 33.

These four rails extend downward a sufficient distance to maintain thefingers 32 and 34, 35 in contracted position until after their lowerends have passed below the top of the case. 'At this point rails 42 and43 terminate. being curved inwardly at their lower ends so as to preventa too abrupt expansion movement of fingers 32 and 34, 35, and also tofacilitate the re-engagement of the actuating arms 38 and 39 with theserails on the upward stroke of the lifting head.

In order to prevent the lifting heads 8A and 83 from turning on thepiston rod axes and swinging out of line with the shipping cases a guiderod 44 is secured to each lifting head and arranged to slide in aguiding aperture in the frame bracket which supports each of therespective air cylinders 9A and 93.

Each gate member GA and GB is a rigid plate and. is supported at eachend by means of a pair of parallelogram linkage arms 45. These arms arepivoted to the gate members at their right ends as viewed in Figs. 3-6.The left ends of the lower arms 45 are pivoted to frame I in anysuitable way. The left ends of the upper arms 45 are pinned to a commonactuating rock shaft 46. (Figs. 1 and 2.)

Gate members GA and GB are lifted to their up position as shown in Fig.3 by means of two tension springs 41, and the gates are moved downsimultaneously by means of a single fluid pressure cylinder 48 againstthe action of these springs. For this purpose the piston rod 49 of thisair cylinder is connected to the upper arm 45 at the left of gate GB.

Platens PA and PB are of similar construction. Each consists of a fiattray preferably of sheet metal having a frame 58 at the back whichprevents the charge of cans from sliding on the platen as it movestoward the left after receiving the cans from the lifting head. Eachplaten also has flanges 5! on each side. The platens are each providedwith flanged wheels 52 which roll on pairs of rails 53 arranged at eachunloading station A and B. The two platens PA and PB are moved back andforth simultaneously by means of a fluid pressure cylinder 54 which hasa piston rod 55 fixed at its end to a common driving bar 56 extendingbetween the front ends of the platens.

A feature of this invention which contributes substantially to thereliability of operation, low maintenance expense and low first cost isthe sequenceof operation of the unloading mechanism together with thefact that each movement or step in the sequence is initiated by thepreceding movement and substantially at its completion. The mechanism.by which this is accomplished is shown in Figs. 6 and 11.

At the completion of the movement of the cases to the respectiveunloading positions A and B. a block cam 53', which is mounted on one ofthe conveyor chains 3 adjacent the end of each flight bar 4, momentarilyengages an actuating member 58 of a pilot valve 59. This momentarilydepresses the valve member 56 which is returned to its upper positionshown in Fig. 11 by means of a compression. spring 5! as soon as therear end of cam 5'! releases the roller at the top of actuating member58.

This causes pressure fluid such as air under suitable pressure from asupply line 52 to pass through. a pipe 53 to the upper end of a2-position spool valve 64. This displaces valve member 55 to theposition shown in Fig. 11 where it remains. In this way air from supplyline 52 is conducted to the upper end of said cylinder 93 through a pipe55. A branch pipe 65c conveys air to air cylinder 3A for station A. Thusboth of the lifting heads 8A and 3B are moved down simultaneously tocause the gripper fingers of lifter head 8A to enter the containers ofan upper tier, and the gripper fingers of lifter head 83 to enter thecontainers of a lower tier.

Substantially at the end of the downward movement of these liftingheads, an angle shaped part '3 on lifting head 88 (Fig. 6) engages theactuating member 68 of a pilot valve 69 which controls the air supply tothe gripper finger actuating mechanisms. It will be understood that theconstruction of this pilot valve and also the two other pilot valves yetto be referred to is identical with that of pilot valve 59 as shown indetail in Fig. 11. Accordingly the depression of actuating member ascauses air pressure from line 62 to pass through pipe 18 to the upperend of a second spool valve 7!. The construction of this valve, and theothers to be referred to, is similar to spool valve 64, and this airpressure causes the valve member of valve '5! to be displaced in such away as to connect the diaphragms 25B and 2133, for actuating the gripperfingers, with the air supply 52 through pipes 12 and 73 respectively. Abranch pipe 72A conveys the same air pressure to the diaphragms 25A and2?A of the lifting head at station A.

Hence the gripping mechanisms of both lifting heads 8A. and 8B aresimultaneously actuated to cause fingers IS and H on the two heads togrip respectively the upper and lower tiers of cans at the two stations.

Substantially at the end of the gripping stroke of one of the operatingbars 25 actuating by diaphragm 2733, the end of this bar engages anactuating member 14 of a pilot valve and this places the air pressurefrom line 62 in communication with the left hand end of spool valve E i(Fig. 6) through pipe 75. Valve member E5 is thereby returned to itsoriginal position at the right end of the valve (upper end in Fig. Pipes55 and 56A from air cylinders 53 A are thus placed in communication withthe atmosphere through an opening in spool valve and air pressure fromline 62, at the same time, is applied through pipes FT and llAto theopposite ends of these cylinders. The lifting heads QB and 9A are raisedto their upper positions lift-- ing the respective tiers of cans out ofthe two cases.

At substantially the end of the upward movement, an actuating screw '18which is mounted on lifting head 83 contactsthe actuating member 59 of athird pilot valve 80. This places air from line 52 in communication withthe right end of a third spool valve 82 (Fig. 6) through a pipe 8!. Thevalve member of this valve is thus moved toward the left applying airpressure from line 62 through pipe 83 to air cylinder 43, which dropsthe two gates GB and GA. Simultaneously the air pressure is conductedthrough pipe M to the left end of air cylinder 56 which begins to movethe two platens PA and PB inward or toward the right beneath the twotiers of cans suspended beneath two lifting heads.

The arrangement of the gate operating mechanisms is such that the gatesdrop almost instantly so that the tiers of cans which are already onplatens PA and PB are prevented by the gates from moving with theplatens, so that these cans move off of the left edges of the platensonto the respective article conveyors 5 and 6.

At substantially the end of this inward movement of the platens, anactuating screw 55, which is mounted on the common driving bar 58 between the two platens, engages actuating member 85 of a third pilotvalve 81', and air passes through CPI \ previously described.

pipe88 to the left end of spool valve Fl (Fig. 6). This connects pipes12, 12A and T3 to exhaust, and the springs within the respectivediaphragm 25A and B and 21A and B reverse the can gripping fingers Itand l! of both lifting heads 8B and 2A, releasing the cans onto therespective platens therebeneath.

In order that the cans may not be deflected as they drop by contact withfingers 32 and 34, which might cause upsetting of some cans, the fourstationary rails 42 and 43 are offset inwardly at their upper endportions (Figs. 2-5) so as to allow fingers 32 and 34 to return to theirouter or expanded positions (see Fig. 5).

The movement of one of the operating bars 23 to release the gripperfingers causes a cam 89 mounted on this bar to engage a roller on theactuating member 99 of a fourth pilot valve 9!. In this way air underpressure passes through a pipe 92 to the left end of spool valve 82(Fig. 6). The movement of valve 82 exhausts pipes 83 and 84 and directsair pressure through pipe 93 to the opposite end of air cylinder 5 GatesGA and GB immediately rise and platens PA and PB move the tiers of cansfrom beneath the lifting heads 8A and 8B and return them over the twoconveyors 5 and E..

The sequence of movements carried out by this apparatus and especiallyincluding the fact that each separate movement is initiated by andsubstantially at the completion of the preceding movement has been foundespecially effective in connection with the construction and operationof unloading apparatus.

Referring now to Figs. 12-16 the lifting head here illustrated is,generally speaking, not unlike the lifting head previously described butis modified in its details and is arranged to grip the articles, namely,beverage bottles externally, and it is capable of handling filledbottles as well as empty ones. It will be understood that the liftinghead shown in these figures, as Well as the further modification shownin Fig. 18, can be substituted in place of the lifting head The liftinghead frame 94 for the form shown in Figs. 12-16, as well as the frame94a for the form shown in Fig. 18, may be fixed, for example, to thelower end of the piston rod IOA of the unloading apparatus previouslydescribed.

As shown in Figs. 12, 13 and 14, frame member 95, preferably in the formof a casting, has an elongated central ripped portion which terminatesin two upstanding cross members for supporting the two pressure fluidactuating cylinders or diaphragms. A series of spaced parallel pivotshafts 95 is arranged beneath the central section of frame 54. Theseshafts are each fixed to the frame by means of two screws 96 (Fig. 13)which pass through apertures 91 (Fig. 17) and are received in tappedholes in the frame.

The number and spacing of these shafts depends upon the number of rowsand the size of the bottles or other articles to be handled. In thepresent instance the lifting head is arranged to unload Coca Colabottles from trays containing six rows of four bottles each.Consequently there are six of these shafts 95. The shafts are longenough to accommodate the four bottles of each row as shown in Fig. 13and are spaced apart as shown in Fig. 12 appropriately to place oneshaft directl above each row.

Below each of the shafts 95 are two parallel gripper supporting members98 and 99 forming a pair. For convenience in manufacture these ;membersare exactly alike, each having at one end a bearing lug I and, near theopposite end, a combined actuating arm and second bearing lug which isconstructed as a hub for this arm. For convenience of description,gripper supporting member 98 has an actuating arm IOI and a bearing hubI02 (see Figs. 13, 15 and 16), while gripper member 99 has a similaractuating arm I03 and bearing hub I 09. Supported by member 98 are aseries of spring fingers I05, and supported by member 99 a similarseries I06. These fingers, however, instead of being secured directly tothese supporting members as in the previously described construction,are riveted respectively to bars I05 and I09 and these bars are in turnremovably attached to the respective supporting members 98 and 99 bymeans of screws I05 and I06. With this con- .their respective bars I05and I06, so as to form substantially continuous rows of gripper fingers..If preferred, however, the gripper fingers may be arranged in spacedpairs I05, I06, corresponding with the spacing of the bottles in eachcross 0 .row of four.

These gripper fingers are preferably tipped with friction material suchas rubber or the like as indicated at I0! suitably shaped to engage thetops of the articles, in this case the necks of the Coca Cola bottles.

It will be understood that to actuate the gripper fingers I05 and I06 togrip or release the bottles, actuating arms IOI and I03 are rocked inopposite directions (Figs. 12 and 15). The

series of actuating arms IOI are moved by means of an operating bar I08at the front of the lifting head as shown in Fig. 14, while the seriesof actuating arms I03 at the rear are moved by a similar operating barI09. The fluid pressure diaphragm or cylinder I [0 at the right operatesfront operating bar I00 and diaphragm III at the left, the rearoperating bar I09.

The arrangement is such that when the air pressure is applied to thesetwo diaphragms simultaneously gripper fingers I05 and I09 are movedtoward one another to grip the bottles. This movement tensions twosprings H2 and H3 respectively connected at the inner ends to operatingbars I08 and I09, and at their outer ends to frame 94. These springsmove fingers I05 and I06 in the opposite direction to release thebottles when the air pressure in diaphragms I I0 and III is removed. Itwill be understood that these diaphragms may be connected with asuitable source of air pressure such as shown at 52 in Fig. 11 by thevalve mechanism shown in that figure, or otherwise, the diaphragms beingconnected to the air control system by means of air pipes 12a and 13arespectively- .10 right end section oi bar I09 is simultaneouslythreaded to receive stop nuts III. These nuts, engaging their adjacentbrackets IIIi, limit the movement of the respective operating bars underthe action of their tension springs H2 and H3.

The operative connections between the upper ends of actuating fingersI93 and the front operating bar I08, and also the connections betweenactuating arms I0! and rear operating bar I99 are such as to provide forthe adjustment of the angular positions of the individual grippersupporting bars 98 and 99 on the several pivot shafts .35 for thepurpose of adjusting the several sets of gripping fingers I05 and I05respectively so that the row of bottles will be properly centeredbetween them, and also for the purpose of adjusting the grippingpressure on the bottles of each row as desired. This is accomplished byemploying eccentric bushings at each pivotal connection, to be presentlydescribed.

Each of the operating bars I93 and 199 is provided with a series ofequally spaced substantially square open notches H3 (Figs. 12 and 16)which extend upward from the bottom of the rectangular central sectionsof these bars. These notches are spaced apart substantially the samedistance as the spacing of pivot shafts 95. In each of these notchesthere is fitted a block I l 9 which is apertured centrally to receive apivot pin I20. Blocks II9 are arranged to slide vertically in theirrespective notches during the gripping or releasing movements of theseveral parts.

The outer ends of each of the pins I29 is received in one of theeccentric bushings referred to, namely, an outer eccentric bushing I2!and an inner eccentric bushing I22. The upper end of each of theactuating arms I93 and Iiil is forked, the front section of the forkbeing indicated at I23 and the rear section at I2 3. Eccentric bushingI2I fits in a circular opening in front section I23 of the fork andeccentric bushing E22 in a similar opening in rear fork section I329.The operating bars I99 and I99 are received between these forkedsections of the operating arms. 7

The adjustment of an individual actuating arm with respect to itsoperating bar is made by rotating the eccentric bushings I2I and I22,which shifts the center of pin I29 lengthwise of the operating bar. Thisrotative movement is accompanied by placing a wrench on the slabbedsurfaces I25 which are provided on each of the outer bushings. To rotatethe inner bushin I22 it is pinned at I26 to the pivot pin I29 and ascrew driver slot I21 is provided in the outer end of this pin. It isnecessary to fix the two eccentric bushings I2I and I22 against furtherrotative movement after the adjustment has been made and for thispurpose each of the forked sections I23 and I24 of the actuating arm issplit by means of a central saw cut as shown in Fig. 15, and clampingscrews I29 (Figs. 12 and 16) provide means for drawing these splitsections together to clamp the respective eccentric bushings.

The further modified form of lifting head shown in Fig. 18 is of thesame general construction as described in connection with Figs. 14-47except for the provision of tips I29 on the lower ends of the articleengaging spring fingers so as to handle open mouth jars, or the like, byinternal gripping instead of external. All of the parts in common withthe previously described liftin head are indicated by the same referencenumber accompanied by the subscript a.

Since internal gripping fingers are actuated in the reverse directionfrom external and since it is desired to actuate the fingers to grippingposition by means of the air pressure, the positions of the twooperating diaphragms are reversed. That is to say, diaphragm Hfia forthe front operating bar I880. is mounted at the left on lifting headframe 94a, and diaphragm Ha for the rear operating bar Iiliia is placedat the right. Compression springs I33 and I39 are employed to move theoperating bars in the reverse direction, instead of tension springs H2and H3.

Spring I30 is mounted on the rod-like end portion I3! of operating bar58a which portion is somewhat longer than in the case of bar its andcompression spring I38 is mounted on this rod-like portion, one endengaging the adjacent bracket Ilfia and its opposite end engaging a pairof nuts I32 which may be adjusted to give the desired spring pressure.Piston rod llda of diaphragm 8a engages the end of rod-like por-' tion I3| to move operating bar 38a toward the right. To limit the leftwardmovement of bar 108a under the action of spring I93 a collar I33 ispinned adjacent the end of the rod-like end portion I 34 of bar 159awhich in this instance is not threaded.

It will be understood that the construction and operation of the rearoperating bar Iota is similar to that just described, the threaded rodlike right end portion of this operating bar being indicated at I35 andbeing engaged by piston rod IiEa of diaphragm Illa.

It will be understood that changes may be made in the construction andoperation of the apparatus described above without departing from thespirit of the invention and that the scope of the invention is set forthin the appended claims.

We claim:

1. In apparatus for removing articles from cases, a lifting headcomprising a group of article-gripping devices constructed and arrangedto enter a case and releasably engage and support a tier of articlestherein, a series of case-expanding fingers surrounding said grippingdevices, said fingers being movably mounted on said lifting head andarranged to engage the inner surfaces of the walls of the case when thelifting head is within the case, means for projecting the lifting headinto the case, and means operative after entrance of the end portions ofsaid fingers within the case to force said fingers outwardly thusexpanding the case walls to free them from the contacting articles ofsaid tier.

2. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 in which the case-expanding fingersare blade-like in form having their outer ends pointed and turnedlaterally inward to enter between adjacent articles of the tier.

3. Apparatus as set forth in claim 2 in which the case-expanding fingersare pivotally mounted on the lifting head.

4. In apparatus for removing articles from cases, a lifting headcomprising a group of article-gripping devices constructed and arrangedto enter a case and releasably engage and support a tier of articlestherein, a row of caseexpanding fingers pivotally mounted on saidlifting head along each side of said gripping devices and arranged toengage the inner surfaces of the side walls of the case when the liftinghead is within the case, a row of similar fingers pivotally mounted onsaid lifting head at each end of said gripping devices, means forprojecting the lifting head into the case, spring means for biasing saidfingers outward, an actuating arm for each of said rows of fingers, astationary rail cooperating with each of said arms as the lifting headmoves towards the case to maintain said fingers contracted adjacent saidlifting devices, said rails terminating to release said arms after theyhave entered the case.

5. Apparatus as set forth in claim 4 in which the pivoted fingers areblade-like in form having their outer ends pointed and turned laterallyinward to enter between adjacent articles of the tier.

6. In apparatus for removing articles from cases, a lifting headcomprising a group of article-gripping devices constructed and arrangedto releasably engage and support a tier of articles Within a case, aseries of case-expanding fingers surrounding said gripping devices, saidfingers being movably mounted on' said lifting head and arranged toengage the inner surfaces of the walls of the case when the lifting headis within the case, means for bringing the case and lifting headtogether with the lifting head within the case to engage the articlestherein, means operative after entrance of the end portions of saidfingers within the case to force said fingers outwardly thus expandingthe case walls to free them from the contacting articles of said tier,and means for separating said lifting head and case, said fingerssliding on the interior surfaces of the case walls during the movementof separation to maintain said walls free from the articles.

'7. Apparatus asset forth in claim 6 in which the case-expanding fingersare blade-like in form having their outer ends pointed and turnedlaterally inward to enter between adjacent articles of the tier.

8. Aparatus as set forth in claim 6 in which the case-expanding fingersare pivotally mounted on the lifting head.

KAYE I-IOLSTEBRO. EDGAR ARDELL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,898,393 Rickers Feb. 21, 19332,253,283 Minaker Aug. 19, 1941 2,390,242 Engler Dec. 4, 1945 2,466,693Fisher Apr. 12, 1949

